Flying-machine



I. L. SLOAN.

FLYING MACHINE.

APPLICATION .mzo DEC.28. 1911.

Patented Jan. 13, 1920.

2 SHEETS-SHEET I.

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l. L. SLOAN,

FLYING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED DEC-28, 1911.

1,328,211 Patentwd Jan. 13, 1920 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2- ticular propeller structure, wherein a plu- UNITED STATES PArE ro -m I 11m L. SLOAN, or NORTH YAKIMA, wAsHme'roN.

rLYmG-mAcHI'NE.

To all whom it may concern;

Be it known that I, IRA L. swim, a citizen of the United States, residing at North Yakima, in the county of chines; and I. do herebydeclare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of theinvention, such as will enable others skilled in theQ-art to whichit appertains to make and use the same. i

This invention relates to flying machines, and the primary Object of the lnvention 1s to provide means which will raise the flying machine substantially straight up or perpendicularly from the ground or water.

. The primary object of the invention is accomplished through the medium of a parrality of propellers are employed arranged in pairs one above the other, the blades of.

which propellers are rotatably connected to the hub thereof, and levers are connected'to the propeller blades and have rollers cari ried by theirclower ends, which ride in channel cams carried stationarlly by the supporting structure or body of the flying ma-'. chine, so that during the rotation of the propeller, the blades .will assume a pushing or vertical position for one third of each revolution, while they will assume an angular or lifting position for the remaining twothirds ofv each revolution, and further to construct the channel cams so that one blade will be in a pushing or vertical position, while the other two are in angled or raising positions.

A further object is to provide means for rotating the propellers in each set or pair,

so that they will rotate in opposite direc tions for exerting a maximum lifting force to raise the flying machine .ofi the ground or water in a substantially perpendicular path.

A further object of this invention is to provide emergency wings or planes which are normally held in folded posltion within the sides of the body, but which may be extended, by lazy tongs construction, into'horizontal laterally extending wings or planes in case of emergency.

With the'fo'regoing and other objects in view, thls invention consists in such novel features of construct1on,,comb1nat1o n and Y arrangementof parts as Wlll be hereinafter I more fully described, illustrated inthe acoompanying drawings and claimed.

Specificationof Letters Patent. I

akima and Stateof Washington, have invented certain new' and useful Improvements in .Flying-Ma- Patented Jan. 13,1920.

Application filed December 28, 1917. Serial No. 209,315.

- In describing the invention in detail, ref-.

erence will be had to 'the accompanying. drawings, wherein 'like characters, designate like and correspondingparts throughout the several views, and in which:

Figure 1 isa sidp elevation of the im-' proved flying machi e, showing parts thereof broken away, v

Fig. 2is a vertical cross section through the machine, showing the emergency planes in extended positions,

' Fig. 3 is 'a fragmentary side elevation of one of the propeller heads and the mechanism for rotating thepropeller blades to sired. A propeller 2 projects out of the rear end of the body 1, beneath the rudder 3, and it is rotated by ancengine or prime mover 42 for propelling the flying machine through the water. 1

The rudder 3 is provided for use inthe' air and a propeller 5 is carried at the forward end of the body 1 for propelling. the flying machine in a horizontal path in'the air.

The propeller 5 is rotated by ashaft 6, which shaft is connected through an ordinary re-' versing clutch structure 7 to a shaft-8. The shaft 8 is connected through a plurality of bevel gears, as indicated at 9, to a shaft 10,

which is the main drive or propelling shaft of the flying machine. The shaft-1O is rotated by a suitable engine 11, which may be connected in any practical manner, as indicated at 12, to the shaft 10. 4

The drawings illustrate twosets of elevating propellers, indicated by the numerals 1 L and 15. The set 14 of'the elevating'propellers is rotated by the shaft 10, as will be hereinafter more fully described, while the set 15 of the elevating propellers is rotated through a second main drive shaft 16', and a set of bevel gears indicated at 17. The

shaft 16 is.-rotated by an engine 18 of any desired, or ordinary, practical type, which is operatively connected to the shaft 16, as shown at 19. p

The set 14 of elevating propellers includes a vertical shaft 20, the lower end of wh1ch is supported by a suitable thrust bearing 21. A beveled gear 22 is mountedupon the vertical shaft- 20, and it meshes with a bevel gear 23, which is mounted upon the shaft 10, and also with a bevel gear 9, whlch is mounted upon the shaft 8. A suitable bearing 25 is provided for the lower end of the shaft 20. .The shaft 20 extends vertically.

through the top of the main body- 1, and it has a head 26 formed upon its upper end which forms a hub for the uppermost propeller of the pair or set 14 of the lifting propellers.' v

The propeller blades 27 three of which are provided in each propeller, are connected to the head 26 for rotation with respect to the head to vary the an les of the blades, by means of pins 28, which have bearing balls 29 formed upon their inner ends.

The head 26 is positioned directly above the upper end of a channeled cam structure 30, and suitable bearing balls 31 are 'provided for preventing friction between the bearing surfaces of the head 26 and the upper end of the channel cam 30. The channeled cam 30 is provided with an annular channel 32 in which is rotatably mounted a plurality of rollers 33. The rollers 33 have bars 34 connected thereto, which are pivotally' connected, as shown at 35, to the propeller blade 27. The channel 32 is constructed so that during the rotation of the propeller structure, and the head 26, one of the propeller blades 27 will be in a pushing or vertical position, while the other two blades are'in an angled orlifting position, and also so that each propeller blade will be in a vertical or pushing position for substantially one-third of each revolution of the hub 26. The channeled cam structure 30 is rigidly supported by a supporting framework 37. A hollow shaft 38 is rotatably mounted about the shaft 20 and it has a beveled gear 39 carried by its lower end, which meshes with-the bevel gears 23 and 24. The bevel gear 39 is positioned upon the opposite side of the axes'o the bevel gears 23 and 24 from the bevel ge --2 so that the shaft 38 will be rotated in a ir'ection reversely to the rotation of the shaft 20.

' The hollow shaft 38 has a head 40 formed upon its upper end, which-head forms thehub of a propeller structure including radiating blades '41, three in number. The blades-41 are connected to the head 40 for' rotation to vary the angles of the blades and in the same manner in which the blades 27 are connectedto the head 26. A channeled cam 42 is positioned beneath the head 40 and bearing balls 43 are provided for preventing friction between the bearing surfacesof the head 40 and the channeled cam 42. The cam 42 is provided with an annular channel 44, which assumes a sinuous path, and in Which rides a plurality of rollers 45. The rollers 45 are connected by means of bars 46 to the propeller blades 41, as shown at 47, so that the blades 41 will be rotated during the rotation of the head 40 for causing the blades to assume a pushing or vertical position for substantially one-third of each revolution, while they will assume an angular or lifting position for the remaining two-thirds. The cam 42 is attached in any suitable manner to the top of the body 1, as shown in Fig. 5 of the drawings. A suitable bearing 48 is provided for the lower end of the hollow shaft 38, and the hollow shaft has a bearing collar 39 mounted thereon, which rests against the upper end of the bearing 48.

The set 15 of lifting propellers comprises an upper propeller structure 50, and a lower propeller structure 51 which are identical in construction with the propeller structures of the set 14. The propeller structure 50 is rotated by the vertical shaft 52, while the propeller stru'cture51 is rotated by a hollow shaft 53, which is mounted about the shaft 52.- The shaft 52 has a bevel gear 54 mounted upon its lower end, which meshes with a bevel gear 55, carried by the shaft 16, and the hollow shaft 53 has a bevel gear 56 mounted upon its lower end, which meshes with the bevel gear 55 upon the opposite side of the axis of the bevel gear 55 from the bevel gear 54 for rotating the propeller structure 51 in an opposite direction to the propeller structure 50, so as to obtain the greatest lifting effect from the rotation of the propeller.

The body 1 is provided with pockets 60 formed in the sides thereof, which open out along the outer surfaces of the body and receive emergency planes or wings 61, when the latter are in a folded position. The planes 61 comprise lazy tongs62, which have canvas 63 attached to their lower ends, so that when the lazy tongs structures are exthe canvas 63 will be stretched, to form 'panded, as shown in Fig. 2 of the drawings,

planes. The lazy tongs structures may be expanded or contracted in any suitable' manner. I,

Ropes 64 are attached to the outer lower dinary spring controlled dru'ms 65, which are carried by the under surface of the bottom of the body 1, so that when the auxiliary or emergency planes are in extended positions the ropes or cables 64 will be stretched for forming guys for the planes.

From the foregoing description, taken in ends of the lazy tongs structures and to or- T connection with the accompanying drawings, the advantages of construction and the method of operation of the improved flying machine will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art to whichthls invention appertains and, while in the foregoing description, the principle of the operation ofment of parts may be altered to suit practical conditions, provided such alterations are comprehended within the scope of what is claimed.

What is claimed is: a

In a flying machine, avertical shaft, a cylindrical head carried thereby and having radially arranged cylindrical recesses and ball shaped recesses at the inner ends of the cylindrical recesses, a plurality of blades,

cylindrical pivot pins carried by the'inner ends of the blades and extending into said radially arranged cylindrical'recesses, said pivot pins being provided with enlarged ball shaped heads'arranged within said ball shaped recesses, a relatively stationary cam surrounding the shaft and having a circumferential cam slot, arms connected to said blades and having collars mounted-in said I 30 ca'm slot whereby the pitch of the blades is varied during rotation, the opposed sides of said head and said cam being provided with annular grooves, and ball-bearings mounted in said annular grooves.

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

' IRA L. SLOAN.

Witnesses:

' CoRAL E. DoUs'r,

.H. B. DOUST. 

